Raising my Fiancè with Money - Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Turn The Whole Continent Upside Down

Lilia went back to the annex. She made eye contact with Mezra, who was leaving the last room, as if the class was over.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Mezra nodded at Lilia’s suggestion. The two entered the nearest drawing room. As soon as he sat in the chair, Lilia asked.

“What do you think?”

“He’s very diligent and polite.”

Mezra poured out compliments with a very satisfied, face. It was a review of 100% job satisfaction.

“If he had attended an academy, he would have won the model award”

He shouted that if she didn’t get it, he would have forced her to give him to her, even if she was the one who recommended Karhan. Lilia glanced at Mezra. Just before, he looked like he was being dragged into a slaughterhouse…. She wondered what had happened in the meantime.

“He lacks the basics, but has good memorization and understanding, so I think he’ll catch up quickly.”

Mezra couldn’t handle the overflowing motivation and clenched his fist.

“T’ll do my best to teach him!”

He seemed to like Karhan very much. Mezra returned, and Lilia picked up cookies from the kitchen and headed to the study room.

As she went inside, Karhan was concentrating on the book, as if he had not noticed her presence. He seemed to be reviewing what he just learned. Lilia watched him from behind. She wondered if she should interfere, but thought Karhan would also need an appropriate rest.

When Lilia put down a plate of cookies, Karhan suddenly raised his head. He blinked as if asking when she had come in.

“Take a break and then do it. It’s the first day. Is it doable?”

“…I lacked a lot of basics, so I had to do a lot of things.”

“But they complimented you a lot?”

Karhan lowered his eyes shyly. Black eyelashes cast a shadow like a shade. Lilia looked at his face silently.

In the past, he looked sharper because under his eyes were dark as if he hadn’t slept well, but these days he looks very good. His skin is no longer dry, too.

As expected, should I eat vegetables too….’

She was thinking about other things, when he slowly lifted his eyelids. Eyes resembling blue flames filled Lilia. As she faced his gaze, Karhan whispered,

“If I work hard and achieve results…… Will you compliment me?”

(P/R: im coughing up blood at this cuteness)

Perhaps the professor’s praise was not enough. Lilia smiled inside because he looked like a puppy who wanted praise after completing a mission.

“You did a great job even though it was your first class.”

Karhan’s eyes curved like an inverted crescent moon. When his warm gaze touched her, her heart fluttered. It felt like her heart was stretching and clumping as if it were flour dough. Thump, thump, the sound of her heart was a little loud as if the chef was pounding the dough.

“I’ll work harder, so please keep watching.”

“…Of course. If you become a Duke later, don’t pretend you don’t know me.”

Karhan only nodded as if it were natural.

“I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“You asked me to break the contract last time…….”

Karhan mumbled his words. Hesitating, he asked quietly,

“Pretending to be my lover……. Are you quitting?”

Now Lilia and Karhan are not in a contractual relationship, but in a cooperative relationship. The reason for pretending to be a lover was to keep Richard in check, but it would no longer work. Lilia looked at Karhan looking at her with a little nervousness in his eyes.

“No. I think we have to keep that up.”

Lilia told the reason.

“I’ve already told my parents that I’m dating you, and if we break up, there’s no justification for you going in and out of my house. And….”

Lilia recalled Karhan’s mother, the Duchess of Evantheon. When she hears that she broke up with him, she will immediately call Stella Delotta. Even though Karhan is different from before. He could not handle Stella and the Duchess of Evantheon.

“There are many problems, so wouldn’t it be better to stay like this for the time being?”

At that time, Karhan’s shoulders lost strength. The slightly lowered shoulder looked natural as if relieved. Lilia, who was looking at him, still asked just in case,

“Do you not like it?”

“No, it’s not like that”

Karhan immediately denied it. He whispered, folding his eyes in half.

“……I like how it is.”

There was a clear emotion. Lilia looked at his softened face for a long time, then parted her lips with a little trembling.

“It’s your first day, so don’t overdo it.”

Leaving those words behind, Lilia immediately left the room. Tok, The sound of the door closing rang, and soon there was only silence in the hallway.

Nevertheless, the thumping sound in her chest did not diminish at all, and lingered in the pinna of her ears. Lilia stood with her back against her door, shook her head, and stepped away from the place.

The next day, Lilia made an appointment to meet Vanessa. She was deliberately refraining from visiting because she thought it would be inconvenient to visit, but Lilia got a call from her first. The work was about to be completed, so Vanessa asked if she could come and take a look.

After leaving the mansion, Llia arrived in front of the building where the Atelier was located after buying snacks. As she climbed the stairs, she heard a child’s laughter from above.

‘Child?’

Lilia paused for a moment and looked up. At that time, she made eye contact with the girl on the second floor stairs.

“Oh! The rich sister!”

The girl recognized Lilia and shouted. Lilia opened her eyes round at the strangely familiar face. Looking closely, she was the child with whom Lilia met in the slum before.

The girl rushed down the stairs. Lilia looked at the girl, who had become neat. Previously, she was wearing old clothes, but now she is in new clothes and has trimmed her hair.

“Miss Lilia?”

Whether she heard a fuss, Vanessa opened the door and came out. Lilia, standing under the stairs, looked up at Vanessa

“Lana!”

Vanessa called the girl with a frightened face. The child, called Lana, held Lilia’s skirt tightly and smiled, Lilia went up the stairs together, covering Lana’s shoulders. Vanessa, who was at a loss, asked Llia,

“Oh my god? Did my sibling act disrespectful?”

“Not at all. Is she your younger sibling?”

“Yes… I’m sorry I brought her to the Atelier without your permission.”

“There’s no need to be sorry. This is a space for you.”

Vanessa, who said thank you, grabbed Lana’s ear slightly and pulled it.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay calm?”

“But… It’s been a while since I met her!”

When Lana shouted back, Vanessa was surprised and, shut her mouth. She never introduced her, but she looked like she somehow knew Lilia.

“She’s the angel who gave me a lot of bread before.”

“…Ah!”

Vanessa looked up at Lilia at Lana’s explanation. Lilia also recalled what the children had said before.

– I need to buy bread!…..It’s for my sister

– My eldest sister… She draws pictures.

She couldn’t believe it was Vanessa. She wondered what kind of coincidence it was. Lilia had even let Vanessa go to the exhibition for free, and later met on the street to establish a relationship.

Lilia murmured, stroking Lana’s head, who was still holding onto her skirt.

“That’s amazing. I ran into Vanessa while passing by, and I didn’t know you were Vanessa’s siblings.”

Lilia smiled quietly, saying she had a lot of fun at that time. Vanessa opened her mouth after licking her lips for a long time,

“….. I was so grateful then. My younger siblings loved it.”

When her younger siblings came home with a beautiful piece of bread, Vanessa asked what kind of bread it was. She misunderstood that they stole bread because they were very hungry. Vanessa took her crying younger siblings to the bakery and heard the whole story from the boss. It was said that a rich lady really bought them bread and went back.

Vanessa felt like she was dreaming when the boss told her to come to eat bread at any time, even though Lilia had paid for it.

Since then, Vanessa has not been worried about meals. As the meal problem was solved, she could breathe as if the sun was entering the rat hole. And when she saw her younger siblings eating high-quality white wheat bread, not dry rye or barley bread, she became happy.

She always thought that she would like to repay the savior, whose name she did not know, someday when they met. Vanessa continued to talk, fiddling with only her fingers.

“I really wanted to see you. Thank you so much.”

Vanessa’s voice was sincere. In fact, Lilia’s help with the children at that time might have been just sympathy. However, Vanessa was not ashamed of being sympathized with and was deeply grateful.

“What? Tell me whenever you need anything else.”

“It’s enough. I also moved with the down payment you gave me last time.”

Vanessa, who was smiling shyly, turned as if she had belatedly recalled her purpose.

“Oh, right. Do you want to see my painting?”

Lilia headed inside with Vanessa. There was a painting covered with a white cloth on the easel.

“It’s about to be completed…., I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

“Don’t mind me. You can draw what you want to draw.”

Since she signed the contract, Vanessa seemed to be trying to suit Lilia’s taste as much as possible. But Lilia believed in Vanessa’s skills. Obviously, the Empire will turn upside down as soon as she makes her debut,

“I drew the scenery of a poor house.”

Lilia remembered the paintings of the slums she had seen so far. Most of them were dark and disastrous. People living with death on their backs and skinny children were mainly depicted. It was to draw sympathy from visitors.

Vanessa removed the white cloth. As if peeking over the window, the scenery of another world was revealed. Dawn sky with light yellow and blue. People who were leaving home early, puppies running on winding roads, chimneys that smell like fire.

On the old roof, the morning sun and the edge of dawn, which had not yet left, coexisted. The lively slum scene tells us that this is also the place where every morning is born.

Vanessa waited for Lilia’s evaluation with a nervous face. Lilia, who had been quiet for a long time, turned her head away.

“I was too naive.”

……What?”

Vanessa made a tearful face. She wondered if she should say she would draw it again, but it was the moment Vanessa opened her mouth. Lilia grabbed Vanessa’s hand stained with paint.

“You are the one who will not only turn the Empire, but the whole continent, upside down”

Comments from Korean readers:

There’s an artist here who will chew on the continent, so just bring a model.

Lilia didn’t have any friends last time, but I think she’ll be friends with Vanessa.

He is diligent and polite, but has good memorization and understanding? A dream-like student.

Ah, it’s even more sad because the karhan is so smart.

What is it? I’m getting emotional. TT